Field
Compounds, methods of making such compounds, pharmaceutical compositions and medicaments comprising such compounds, and methods of using such compounds to treat, prevent or diagnose diseases, disorders, or conditions associated with protein malfunction are provided.
Description of the Related Technology
Aberrant protein function, and/or protein imbalance is a hallmark of many disease states. For example, the functioning of the immune system is finely balanced by the activities of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators or cytokines. Some cytokines promote inflammation (pro-inflammatory cytokines), whereas other cytokines suppress the activity of the pro-inflammatory cytokines (anti-inflammatory cytokines). For example, IL-4, IL-10, and IL-13 are potent activators of B lymphocytes, and also act as anti-inflammatory agents. They are anti-inflammatory cytokines by virtue of their ability to suppress genes for pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1, TNF, and chemokines.
Unregulated activities of these mediators can lead to the development of serious inflammatory conditions. For example, autoimmune diseases arise when immune system cells (lymphocytes, macrophages) become sensitized against the “self.” Lymphocytes, as well as macrophages, are usually under control in this system. However, a misdirection of the system toward the body's own tissues may happen in response to still unexplained triggers. One hypothesis is that lymphocytes recognize an antigen which mimics the “self” and a cascade of activation of different components of the immune system takes place, ultimately leading to tissue destruction. Genetic predisposition has also been postulated to be responsible for autoimmune disorders.
Misregulation of protein synthesis may contribute to uncontrolled cell growth, proliferation, and migration, leading to cancer. For example, the translation termination factor GSPT1 (eRF3a) mediates stop codon recognition and facilitates release of a nascent peptide from the ribosome. In addition to its role in translation termination, GSPT1 is also involved in several other critical cellular processes, such as cell cycle regulation, cytoskeleton organization and apoptosis. GSPT1 has been implicated as an oncogenic driver of several different cancer types, including breast cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, gastric cancer, and prostate cancer. See, e.g., Brito, et al., Carcinogenesis, Vol. 26, No. 12, pp. 2046-49 (2005); Brito, et al., Canc. Genet. Cyto., Vol. 195, pp. 132-42 (2009); Tavassoli, et al., Med. Oncol., Vol. 29, pp. 1581-85 (2011); Wright and Lange, Rev. Urol., Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 207-213 (2007); Hoshino, et al., Apoptosis, Vol. 17, pp. 1287-99 (2012); Liu, et. al., PLOS One, Vol. 9, No. 1, e86371 (2014); and Jean-Jean, et al., Mol. Cell. Bio., Vol. 27, No. 16, pp. 5619-29 (2007). GSPT1 also contributes to glial scar formation and astrogliosis after a central nervous system (CNS) injury. See, e.g., Ishii et al., J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 292, No. 4, pp. 1240-50 (2017).
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) are pro-inflammatory cytokines that mediate inflammatory responses associated with infectious agents and other cellular stresses. Overproduction of these cytokines is believed to underlie the progression of many inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Crohn's disease, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, endotoxin shock, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, congestive heart failure, and psoriasis among others.
TNF-alpha is produced by variety of activated immune cells, particularly monocytes and macrophages. Elevated levels of TNF-alpha have been implicated in several pathological conditions including inflammation, infection, autoimmune disease, cancer development and several other disorders. Indeed, virtually all of the players in the human immune system have been report to have some level of functional relationship with TNF-alpha. See, e.g., Wallach, Cytokine, Vol. 63, 225-9 (2013). TNF is able to induce fever, apoptotic cell death, cachexia, inflammation, and to inhibit tumorigenesis and viral replication.
IL-1α and IL-1β are proinflammatory cytokines that activate cells by binding the IL-1 receptor type I (IL-1RI). These proteins are the most powerful endogenous pyrogens known. IL-1α is constitutively expressed as a precursor in cells forming biological barriers, such as epithelial cells, keratinocytes, and mucosal and endothelial cells, as well as other organ cells. IL-1α does not require processing for activation and is released from damaged or dying cells. In contrast, IL-1β must be proteolytically cleaved into its active form. Active IL-1β is primarily generated in a subset of blood monocytes, dendritic cells, and tissue macrophages, where its activation and release are tightly regulated, although studies systematically assessing other cells capable of producing IL-1β are limited. See, e.g., Nold, et al., Blood, Vol. 113, 2324-35 (2009).
Recent data from clinical trials support the use of protein antagonists of cytokines, for example soluble TNF-alpha receptor fusion protein (etanercept) or the monoclonal TNF-alpha antibody (infliximab), for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, juvenile chronic arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. Thus, the reduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha and interleukin-1 (IL-I) has become an accepted therapeutic approach for potential drug intervention in these conditions.
Moreover, IL-2 is now FDA approved for the treatment of renal cancer and melanoma patients, with durable, complete remissions achieved with IL-2 up to 148 months. However, the short half-life of IL-2 in serum requires that large amounts of IL-2 be injected to achieve therapeutic levels. Many attempts have been made to minimize side effects of systemic IL-2 treatment, for example, introducing IL-2 directly into the tumor, though this complicates treatment, and has largely been unsuccessful.
Local delivery of cytokines is appealing compared to systemic delivery for a variety of reasons. It takes advantage of the natural biology of cytokines that have evolved to act locally in a paracrine or autocrine fashion. Local expression also dramatically minimizes many of the side effects of systemic delivery of cytokines. Thus, compounds and methods to increase local expression of IL-2 would be better tolerated than high dose IL-2 treatment, which would expand therapeutic utility of strategies that increase IL-2.
Additional targets include several candidate genes involved in apoptosis and cell survival, including the zinc-finger transcription factor Aiolos. Aiolos is a transcription factor whose expression is restricted to lymphoid lineages. Aiolos binds to the Bcl-2 promoter, and also interacts with the Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL proteins to promote cell survival. Upregulation of Aiolos expression, for example, can reduce apoptosis of HIV-1 infected cells.
Likewise, expression of Aiolos in lung and breast cancers predicts significantly reduced patient survival. Aiolos decreases expression of a large set of adhesion-related genes, disrupting cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, facilitating metastasis. Aiolos may also function as an epigenetic driver of lymphocyte mimicry in certain metastatic epithelial cancers. Thus, down-regulation of Aiolos may reduce or eliminate metastasis.
Similarly, the casein kinase 1 family of proteins plays a role in the mitotic spindle formation, in DNA repair, and in RNA metabolism. See, e.g., Knippschild, et al., Cell Signal, Vol 17, pp. 675-689 (2005). There are six isoforms in humans: α, γ1, γ2, γ3, δ and ε. CK1α has been shown to have an anti-apoptotic function; its inhibition increased Fas-induced apoptosis, whereas the overexpression of CK1α delayed BID-mediated cell death. See, e.g., Desagher, et al., Mol Cell., Vol. 8, pp. 601-611 (2001). In addition, CK1α inhibits TRAIL induced apoptosis by modification of the TNF receptor or FADD at the death-inducing signaling complex (DISC). Thus, downregulation of CK1α leads to enhancement of TRAIL-induced cell death. CK1α also promotes cell survival by interacting with the retinoid X receptor (RXR). Downregulation of CK1α enhances the apoptotic effect of RXR agonists. Likewise, the ikaros family of proteins are tumor suppressors that play a role in leukemia.
One mechanism to disrupt protein drivers of disease is to decrease the cellular concentration of these proteins. For example, proteolytic degradation of cellular proteins is essential to normal cell function. Hijacking this process, by targeting specific disease-related proteins, presents a novel mechanism for the treatment of disease. The irreversible nature of proteolysis makes it well-suited to serve as a regulatory switch for controlling unidirectional processes.
Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis begins with ligation of one or more ubiquitin molecules to a particular protein substrate. Ubiquitination occurs through the activity of ubiquitin-activating enzymes (E1), ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2), and ubiquitin-protein ligases (E3), acting sequentially to attach ubiquitin to lysine residues of substrate proteins. The E3 ligases confer specificity to ubiquitination reactions by binding directly to particular substrates.